The following is a rundown of the day’s news drawn from other media sources with topics curated just for Money and Markets readers: Obamacare, personal security and freedom, world news!
Obamacare
Obama Launches Effort Aimed at HIV Cure
The Obama administration is shifting $100 million into research efforts aimed at curing HIV. The president was less specific about U.S. support for programs aimed at treating and preventing HIV and AIDS around the world.
Neighbors Call Cops on Workers Pitching Obamacare Door-to-Door
”Insurance companies have always taken advantage of people. Government takes advantage of people. Two barracudas getting together and saying we made something good for you? I just don’t buy that.”
Cancer Patient and Obamacare Critic Says He’s Being Audited by IRS
Bill Elliot, who publicly discussed the cancellation of his insurance under Obamacare, now says he has been informed by the Internal Revenue Service that he is going to be audited.
Obamacare Website Sign-Ups Said to Reach 100,000 in Month
After two months of software errors and delays that have threatened the success of President Obama’s signature health law, the administration said yesterday that healthcare.gov is working smoothly for the majority of users.
Obamacare Customers Urged to Double-Check Insurance Status
Although officials declared on Sunday that the consumer-facing front end of the federal website was now working effectively for the majority of customers, there have been separate concerns over the back end, which processes applications and passes on financial information to insurers selling the policies.
Personal security and freedom
Edward Snowden Revelations Prompt UN Investigation Into Surveillance
“Suggestion that this sort of responsible journalism can somehow be equated with aiding and abetting terrorism needs to be scotched decisively,” said Ben Emmerson, UN’s leading voice on counter-terrorism and human rights since 2011.
The NSA Wrote Turkey-day Talking Points
Distributed internally by the NSA the week before Thanksgiving, the two-pager — a set of bullet points — armed employees with verbal ammunition that they were encouraged to share “with family and close friends.”
Amazon Drones Face Hurdles to Get Off the Ground
“The likelihood that drones would hit high structures and electrical structures is very great because they probably would lack the internal memory to maneuver around such objects.”
Chinese Conducted Unannounced ‘Inspections’ of Bloomberg News Bureaus
The visits followed media reports that Bloomberg canceled a year-long investigation on financial ties between a Chinese billionaire and government officials, intended to avoid antagonizing the Chinese government.
Washington Times Sues Homeland Over Seizure of Reporter’s Notes
The seized materials included documents as well as notes and memos that identified confidential sources from a series of investigative stories that exposed problems inside the Homeland Security Department’s Federal Air Marshal Service.
World news
Iran Announces Second Nuclear Reactor
The nuclear announcement came just a day after Rouhani promised to continue the country’s controversial uranium-enrichment program, stating that Iran’s “enrichment will never stop and this is our red line.”
Obama Arranging Tehran Visit for Next Year
The source said that the desire to visit is shared, and that Tehran and Washington are waiting for the conclusion of the arrangements prior to Iranian President Hassan Rohani issuing an official invitation to his American counterpart to visit Tehran.
White House: Obama Not Eyeing Iran Trip
The White House on Monday denied a report that President Obama is planning a trip to Iran next year. “There is no truth to this report,” National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden told The Hill in an email.
Momentum Rising in Israel to Let Jews Pray At Holy Muslim Temple Mount
A small but growing movement by Jewish activists demanding the right to pray at the site of their destroyed temple is creating a potentially explosive clash with the Muslim world, which considers the spot holy and bans Jews from public worship there.
Power Outage Plunges Most of Venezuela Into Darkness
The reasons for the power failures are obvious and simple: lack of investment, incompetence and corruption within the state-run power company Corpoelec since Chavez’s 2007 nationalization of the sector.
Best wishes,
The Money and Markets Team
